Bed clothing consisting of a fitted element and a partially attached top layer are disclosed in the prior art including U.S. Pat. No. 1,865,329 to Horter, U.S. Pat. No. 2,525,713 to North, U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,739 to Crockett and U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,308 to Shatz. These are rather difficult to install on a bed or are easily dislodged from the mattress.
Fitted bed clothing including elastic strips which allow the bed clothes to resiliently encompass a mattress have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,283 to Steffinich and U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,902 to Isham. In Steffinich, the elastic panel is sewn to the corner of the sheet and is easily dislodged. In Isham, stretch fit ends are sewn to the entire head and foot portions of the bed clothing which adds significantly to the cost of the bed clothing assembly. Further, the patent to Isham while it discloses an openable cover portion in FIG. 4, fails to disclose a blanket which is easy to make and provides a clean, attractive bed when made.
These and other problems and disadvantages of prior art bed clothing devices are addressed and solved by the improved blanket of the present invention.